


SINS OF THE PAST

by OminousPredictions



Series: CONSEQUENCES [8]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:48:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29956389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OminousPredictions/pseuds/OminousPredictions
Summary: Frederick Valga moves to Paris for a new start................. except his new school has Lila Rossi in attendance, the girl who ruined his life after he called her out on her lies. The sins of the past rear their ugly head with my first original akumatisation.Eighth in the CONSEQUENCES series
Relationships: Jean Duparc/Original Male Character(s)
Series: CONSEQUENCES [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1830691
Comments: 21
Kudos: 215





	SINS OF THE PAST

**Author's Note:**

> This partially continues from the previous story, BULLYING, where Frederick was mentioned as a past victim of Lila's. Here, he is the one to hand her her dose of karma.
> 
> WARNING: Mention of past suicide attempts.

Francoise Dupont looked like a nice, safe, normal place, Frederick thought to himself as he stood on the pavement in front of the building, looking up at it nervously. The move from Hamburg to Paris had been hard, to say the least, but it had been decided that a change of scenery was perhaps the best idea in light of the………….. unpleasantness. Frederick shivered in spite of the warm sunlight, subconsciously pulling his right sleeve down further. He was a tall, good-looking boy of fifteen with black hair and brown eyes that spoke of a quiet but fierce intelligence, but which seemed a lot dimmer than they might once have been. He was dressed quite simply in a long-sleeved dark blue jumper, light brown trousers and a pair of smart black shoes, a leather satchel slung over one shoulder. He hadn’t exactly been comfortable leaving his family back in Germany, but he wasn’t entirely alone here; his cousin Hugo had accompanied him back and he was now staying at his aunt and uncle’s house, them having been more than willing to take him in. Their older son Axel had moved out, attending university in London, which freed up a room. Hugo, their younger son and his favourite cousin, had offered to share his room with Frederick but he’d declined, wanting his own space. Hugo was very protective of him recently, ever since…………… well, it didn’t do to dwell on the past. It was a new start, a new day. 

According to the email he’d been sent by the school office, he was to proceed first to the headmaster’s office to meet Mr. Damocles, the headmaster of the school, then report to the class of Ms. Caline Bustier. Sounded simple enough. The school had many good things going for it, with teachers who knew their subjects well, plenty of extracurricular activities, an impressive alumni list and, most importantly, a highly diverse roster of both staff and students so he would not be the odd one out. He spoke French well enough, along with some English and Italian, but his native German could always be relied upon. Ascending the front steps and into the main courtyard, he was pointed in the direction of the headmaster’s office by a tall man wearing a bowler hat and climbed up the stairs to the upper level. Strange layout, this school had, he thought to himself as he knocked on the door.

“Enter!”, said a voice from within.

Frederick pushed the door open and entered the room. It was quite large and airy thanks to the large window that took up most of the opposite wall, whilst the other two walls were lined with bookcases and hung with maps of Paris and, strangely, several pictures of owls. Indeed, the man sitting behind the large desk reminded him quite forcibly of an owl himself and his voice did have a certain hooting quality to it.

“Can I help you, young man?”, he asked politely.

“Sorry, sir. I’m Frederick Valga, a student who’s supposed to be starting here today.”, Frederick ventured timidly.

“Ah, yes, of course.”, the man replied graciously. “Have a seat and I’ll be right with you.”

He began typing away on his computer, seemingly more at ease with it than his age would suggest, and Frederick obligingly dropped into one of the chairs facing the desk, glancing around the office and taking it all in. A lot of the books were either on history, ornithology or, surprisingly enough, superheroes. But then Paris was all abuzz with these new superheroes, Ladybug and Cat Noir, and their foe, the villainous Hawk Moth, who could turn people into villains themselves using magical butterflies. If you believed that sort of thing. Hugo had sworn that the whole thing was real and whilst Frederick knew his cousin was not a liar, he tended to maintain skepticism of these things unless he saw them for himself. Thankfully there had been no akuma attacks since he’d arrived in Paris, but it was probably inevitable. His parents had been hesitant about sending him here precisely because of all that, but Aunt Getrude and Uncle Garrick had assured them that there was nothing to worry about since Ladybug always fixed things in the end. Literally, her power was apparently summoning magical ladybirds that repaired everything after a battle, up to and including fixing the Eiffel Tower when it got broken or sliced in half. Again, Frederick would reserve judgement on that.

“So.”, said the headmaster, jolting Frederick out of his reverie. “First of all, let me be the first to welcome you to Francoise Dupont. I am the headmaster, Theseus Damocles, but you will address me by my title if you please.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Damocles.”, Frederick replied.

“You’ll report to your new class in just a moment.”, Mr. Damocles went on. “However, there is something I wanted to discuss with you first.”

“Yes, sir?”, Frederick inquired.

“Your report from your previous school in Hamburg indicates that you suffered terribly from bullying.”, Mr. Damocles said gently. “To the extent that you……….. Well………”

He trailed off uncomfortably, his eyes straying to Frederick’s right wrist. Frederick swallowed before replying.

“Yes, sir. That is true.”, he said in a slightly fragile voice.

“Well, rest assured that we do not tolerate anything of the sort here at Francoise Dupont.”, Mr. Damocles said. “If you find yourself being subjected to it, feel free to approach me or any of the other staff.”

“Thank you, sir.”, Frederick replied. “I will do that, but hopefully it won’t come to it.”

“Indeed so.”, Mr. Damocles agreed. “If you are feeling at all nervous or uncertain, I would advise approaching Ms. Bustier for some calming meditation. It has proven effective at warding off akumas but has other applications.”

“I will keep that in mind, sir.”, Frederick replied politely.

There was a knock on the door at that moment and a rather pretty young woman with reddish-auburn hair entered the room. 

“Sorry to intrude, Mr. Damocles, but I just needed to drop off these permission slips to be filed before starting lessons.”, she said.

“Good, good.”, Mr. Damocles. “As a matter of fact, I have your new student here with me. This is Frederick Valga, a transfer student from Germany.”

“Wonderful to meet you, Frederick.”, the woman said, holding out a hand. “I’m Ms. Bustier, your new form teacher.”

“Nice to meet you.”, Frederick replied, shaking her hand. “Apologies, my French isn’t that good.”

“Better than my German, at least.”, Ms. Bustier smiled. “But we can work on that. What school is for, after all.”

Frederick managed a small chuckle, feeling more at ease already.

“If that is all, I suggest you pop along to your new class, Frederick.”, Mr. Damocles said. “I’m sure your classmates will be eager to meet you.”

Frederick wasn’t exactly a people person, suffering from social anxiety that had only been increased by his recent ordeal, but was able to make friends easily enough. Hopefully these ones would turn out to be better friends than his previous ones. Not that that would be hard.

“If you’re feeling worried about not fitting in because you’re from Germany, you needn’t worry.”, Ms. Bustier told him kindly as she led him along the walkway towards a far classroom. “We have students whose backgrounds are from all over the world. In fact, we had a transfer student from Italy join us only last year so you aren’t alone.”

She seemed to miss the almost imperceptible shudder that went through Frederick’s body at that, stirring up unpleasant memories. He shook them off as they reached the classroom door. Remember, new start. Ms. Bustier looked down at him and frowned slightly as she noticed how jittery he seemed.

“Would you like to take a moment and wait?”, she asked. “I understand you might be nervous.”

“No thank you, Ms. Bustier, I’m fine.”, Frederick replied. 

“Very well, then.”, Ms. Bustier said, pushing open the door.

It was quite a big classroom, designed much like a college lecture hall with tiered sears rising up towards the back of the room. The students within were all chatting away animatedly, though Frederick noticed that most of them all seemed to be gathered around one desk in particular. The only exceptions to this were a blond-haired boy and a girl with her blue-hued hair in pigtails who seemed to be talking in low voices. Ms. Bustier clapped her hands to get their attention.

“Excuse me, everyone! Could I have your attention please?”, she called. “I’m pleased to announce that we have a new student joining us here today.”

All heads turned to the doorway.

“I’d like you all to meet Frederick Valga, a transfer student from Germany.”, Ms. Bustier went on. “He’s a little shy, so let’s all be sure to make him feel as welcome and included as possible.”

Frederick waved shyly from the doorway, eyes scanning his new classmates.

“Hello, everyone.”, he said timidly. “It’s nice to meet you all and I hope we can-”

He stopped dead as the crowd around the desk broke apart to reveal the person who was sitting there, clad in a horrifically familiar burnt-orange jacket and distinctive twin-braid hairstyle. Cold green eyes in a face that could fake a veneer of friendliness but which hid the venomous snake beneath- no, that was a disservice to snakes. Frederick staggered backwards into the door, shaking like a leaf.

“N-No!”, he gasped. “N-Not you! Not you!”

Lila’s cold green eyes were narrowed in suspicion as she scrutinised him, then widened as she seemed to recognise him. Everyone else around her was focused on him, looking very concerned.

“Frederick, are you all right?”, he heard Ms. Bustier ask him as though from a great distance. “You’ve gone white as a sheet.”

But Frederick could only focus on the spectre of his past sitting there, in the middle of his new classmates, looking at him with that terrible predatory look that had foreshadowed all the misery and pain he’d endured and suddenly it all came crashing down on him at once. He turned and bolted, ignoring the concerned shouts behind him as he tore down the stairs, across the courtyard and out of the front doors. Cars screeched to a halt and horns honked angrily as he tore across the road without stopping to look or listen, finally coming to a halt in a deserted park. He sank to the floor with his back against a tree, sobbing and rocking in the throes of a crippling panic attack. So much for a new start! He comes all the way to France to try and recover from the ordeal that awful Rossi girl put him through…………… only to find that she’s here! What kind of twisted karma would allow that? No doubt she was doing the same thing here as she’d done back in Hamburg, manipulating people with her lies to act as her devoted servants whilst turning them against anybody who dared to try and expose her as he had done. And now that she knew he was here, she’d probably start it all up again. Spin a few sob stories to her friends about how he had viciously bullied her when she lived in Germany and forced her to leave and now he was here to torment her further! The thought of it filled him with rage! With shaking hands he took out his phone and dialed Hugo’s number, trying to compose himself as it rang. Finally he answered.

“Freddy? What is it?”, Hugo’s voice asked. “I’m kind of in the middle of class right now.”

“It’s her, Hugo.”, Frederick said, unable to keep a sob out of his voice. “She’s here. In my new school, in my new class, even! She’s here!”

“Who?”, Hugo asked, sounding very concerned at his cousin’s distress. “Wait, you mean her? Lila Rossi?”

“Yes, her.”, Frederick replied. “She’s here in Paris, in my new school. I walked into class and……… there she was.”

“No way!”, Hugo protested. “That can’t be right! Didn’t they know she was responsible for what happened to you at your old school?”

“I don’t know, Hugo.”, Frederick replied. “I just…………….. when I saw her sitting there, I just had flashbacks. I can’t go through that again.”

“Where are you right now?”, Hugo asked.

“In the park across from the school.”, Frederick replied. “I kind of freaked out and bolted.”

“Heh, I don’t blame you.”, Hugo said. “Stay there. I’m gonna explain things to my teacher then I’m coming over there and we’re blowing the lid off this.”

“Hugo, please, don’t.”, Frederick pleaded. “There isn’t any need for that.”

“Like hell - sorry, heck - there isn’t!”, Hugo said, probably having had to apologise to his teacher for that. “That………… unmentionable word nearly caused you to die! I’m not letting her get away with that!”

Frederick felt a rush of gratitude towards his cousin; Hugo might pretend that he didn’t have a heart, but he did. Of course, it helped that his girlfriend Sofia had prevented him from turning into a bullish jock like his older brother Axel by showing him the benefits of team play and being open and honest about himself. Frederick adored that girl for how much she had helped his cousin become a better person, as well as for being a massive help to him when he had troubles with Lila. Oh, now the thought of her was making him angry again. Given how nearly everyone had been gathered around her when he arrived, she was up to her old tricks of spinning fabulously fraudulent tales to gain attention and sympathy and whatever else she wanted. Those two who had been sitting apart must have been the only ones to see through it, like him, and thus were probably in Lila’s crosshairs like he’d been. Rage filled him once again as he thought of what he’d gone through, what it had almost made him do, and the thought of it happening to anyone else. Lila had been so infuriatingly smug and self-assured when he confronted her, refusing to acknowledge her lies and gloating about how his friends had all abandoned him for her, that he was worthless and would never win. All of it was infuriating and he wished there was some way he could rip off that liar’s mask and show the world what a spiteful, cruel and selfish bitch lay beneath it. 

“Listen, I’m gonna phone my parents and let them know what’s happened so we can act as back-up.”, Hugo was saying. “This girl is not going to do that to you again.”

“OK.”, Frederick agreed. “It’s time to make sure she doesn’t ever do this again and- what the……..?”

A butterfly, black with purple spots, had suddenly flown in front of him and was fluttering insistently in his direction. He waved a hand at it, trying to bat it away or scare it off, but it kept flying towards him.

“What? Gah, go away!”, he exclaimed. “Get lost, you damned bug!”

“Frederick? Freddy, what’s happening?”, Hugo asked on the other end of the line.

“This damn butterfly won’t leave me alone!”, Frederick replied. “Shoo! Bugger off!”

There was a sudden silence on the other end of the line and when Hugo spoke again, it was with a very noticeable tone of panic in his voice.

“Freddy, that’s an akuma!”, he said. “Whatever you do, do not let it near you!”

“How do I do that?”, Frederick asked, feeling decidedly panicky as the butterfly closed in.

“Calm down! Don’t let yourself get angry or frightened!”, Hugo told him. “That’s why it’s drawn to you!”

Frederick backed away from it, swinging his satchel in an arc to try and swat it.

“Huh? It’s gone.”, he said into the phone. 

“Gone where? Did it land on you?”, Hugo asked, sounding even more worried than before.

“I don’t think so.”, Frederick replied. “I swung my satchel at it and- what the hell?!”

The satchel in question had suddenly turned jet-black and then all of a sudden, a voice that was not his own or Hugo’s began speaking inside his head.

“Hello there. I don’t believe I’ve seen you before.”, it said. “I am Hawk Moth, and I can sense your anger, your pain, your desire to avenge the hurt that has been done to you. I can help you with that.”

Frederick suddenly felt a great pressure in his head that drove him to his knees, his phone tumbling from his hand to land on the ground as he clutched his temples, trying to fight the malign influence already sinking its claws into him.

“N-No!”, he choked. “Get out of my head! I’ve seen what you’ve made people do! You won’t make me do it! YOU WON’T!”

“Frederick? Frederick, what’s going on?!”, Hugo’s frantic voice demanded over the phone. “Talk to me!”

“H-Hawk Moth!”, Frederick managed to grunt in the direction of the phone. “Inside m-my head………….. so strong………….”

“Fight him!”, Hugo pleaded. “Fight him, Freddy! Don’t let him turn you into a monster!”

“Get out of my head! I won’t listen to you!”, Frederick choked, trying to resist.

“But I want to help you.”, Hawk Moth purred. “I can give you the power to help you expose the liar who hurt you so much to the whole world, to make her suffer for what she did to you and many others.”

And Frederick was certainly tempted by that; he remembered the abuse, first verbal then physical, from those he’d considered his friends. Remembered the pushes in the halls, the ripping of his books, the spilling of his lunch all over him and so much more, all with her standing in the background, smirking as she pulled the strings to make his life a misery. So much of a misery that he tried to end it all and would have done if Hugo hadn’t saved his life at the last minute. Then she’d moved on, skipped merrily off to another city to start the whole thing over again and leaving behind a morass of shattered friendships and trusts, having elegantly dodged all consequences. But the chance to change all that was here, offered by this strange but compelling power, and maybe it wouldn’t hurt to give in just for that. He could get revenge for all the pain he’d been put through, what his former friends had done to him, and rescue her future victims from the same fate……………..

“I accept, Hawk Moth.”, Frederick said calmly, his head rising up to stare ahead grimly.

“Excellent.”, Hawk Moth purred. “I shall be requiring something in exchange for this little gift, however. A set of earrings and a ring, the Miraculous of the heroes Ladybug and Cat Noir. So go forth and bring them out…………… INQUISITOR.”

Frederick’s kind face twisted into a sadistic grin as he was enveloped in purple-black ether that soon cleared to reveal his akumatised form. He was now twice as tall as he used to be, and he’d already been quite tall as it is, with chalk-white skin and clad in flowing black robes with a large floppy hat. A large red cross was stitched across the front of the robe and his satchel, now black leather, was still slung across his torso. He reached in and opened it, pulling out a scroll of a wanted poster with Lila’s face on it.

“I’m coming for you.”, he said in a growling voice.

A noise at his feet drew his attention and he looked down to see Frederick’s mobile phone lying on the ground, Hugo’s voice still emanating from it as he picked it up.

“Frederick?! Are you there?! Please talk to me!”, his cousin’s voice said almost hysterically.

“I’m sorry, Frederick’s been disconnected.”, the akuma replied. “I am now The Inquisitor, and I have a target to hunt.”

And he crushed the phone to bits with one hand before dropping the shards into his satchel and then turning to stare in the direction of Francoise Dupont.

“Time to begin the inquisition!”, he said.

======================================================================================================

Back in Ms. Bustier’s class it was a very confusing atmosphere, to say the least. Ms. Bustier had told them all to get on with some work whilst she went to talk to Mr. Damocles, but nobody was really listening. Everyone was discussing Frederick’s flight in urgent tones, worried over how terrified he had looked and curious as to why it seemed to have been the sight of Lila that triggered it. Lila, of course, had immediately launched into her standard role of playing the incredibly distressed delicate girl, spinning a tale of how Frederick had bullied her terribly at her last school in Hamburg, to the extent that she’d had to move away in order to escape him.

“He found me!”, she sobbed through her hands. “Why?! I thought I’d finally escaped him and he finds me again! Why won’t he just leave me alone?!”

Perhaps this might have worked before, and a few of them were concerned for her due to her very visible and convincing distress. But ever since the incident with Marinette and the exam results, their high regard of Lila had faded somewhat. That and they had seen with their own two eyes that the lad had looked scared out of his mind at the sight of her rather than the other way around.

“What are you on about, Lila?”, Alix asked, frowning. “The moment he clapped eyes on you, he went white as a sheet and bolted. I’m not an expert, but that’s not the typical reaction of a bully seeing one of their former victims.”

That wasn’t technically true; Kim had turned tail and run from Ivan the day after Stoneheart and Chloe had been quite wary of both Kim and Nathaniel after they got akumatised, but Alix was sensing something off about this situation and about Lila in particular.

“I have to agree with Alix.”, Max chimed in. “Frederick’s reaction was erroneous of a tormentor encountering a former victim, at least if he were the tormentor.”

“That’s how he worked back in Germany!”, Lila sniffled. “He’d pretend to be weaker than he was so people wouldn’t believe he was a bully!”

“No offence, Lila, but I don’t follow that.”, Nathaniel remarked. 

“W-Why would you say that, Nathaniel?”, Lila simpered, turning tear-filled eyes on the redhead. “I t-thought you were m-my friend! Why are you accusing me of lying?”

Nathaniel opened his mouth to retort, for he certainly had not been accusing her of anything but merely voicing his opinion, but the classroom door was suddenly kicked inwards with such force that one of the hinges broke and it hung drunkenly from the remaining one. Through the doorway strode a very tall figure wreathed all in black, face largely concealed beneath the brim of a large hat.

“Exactly what I was wondering.”, the figure said in a voice of menace. “Because accusations of lying are my purview.”

The class had seen enough akumas in their lives to know that this was one and judging by the absolutely chilling glare he was sending at a paling Lila, their beef was with her.

“Frederick?”, Marinette asked in a startled voice.

“I’m afraid I no longer go by that name.”, the akuma replied, tipping his hat to her. “You may refer to me as The Inquisitor.”

“Inquisitor?”, Kim asked. “What’s that when it’s at home?”

“An inquisitor is kind of like a judge, Kim.”, Max explained, ever the brainbox. “Except they usually handled matters relating to heresy.”

“What? So he’s here for Lila because she didn’t go to church?”, Kim asked, ever the dimwit.

The Inquisitor chuckled, a low and sinister one.

“Not exactly. I am here because THAT GIRL-”, he suddenly bellowed, causing the windows to rattle in their frames. “- IS LITTLE MORE THAN A SADISTIC, VICIOUS LIAR!”

Lila crossed her arms over her chest in a protective manner.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”, she protested. “I can’t believe you’d want to hurt me so much that you’d get yourself akumatised and try and call me a liar!”

“Hurt you?!”, The Inquisitor snapped. “That’s rich! Shall we talk about all the things you inflicted on me back in Germany, how you ruined my life, just because I wasn’t willing to let you string my friends along like puppets?!

He began to stalk up the aisle towards the joint desk Lila shared with Nathaniel, but Kim blocked his way.

“You want her, you’re gonna have to get past me!”, he declared, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

The Inquisitor regarded him with a mixed look of admiration, fondness and regret.

“So noble and protective.”, he said, before lifting the Vietnamese boy a foot off the ground with one hand. “But save it for someone who deserves it.”

And he dumped Kim almost casually to the side as he advanced on Lila.

“You’re coming with me.”, he snarled.

But just as he reached for her, Lila jumped to her feet, grabbed Nathaniel and shoved him forwards so that The Inquisitor’s hand closed around his neck rather than Lila’s. Taking advantage of the akuma’s surprise, Lila vaulted over the desk and scarpered for the door. The Inquisitor growled angrily before loosening his death-grip on a very startled Nathaniel.

“Sorry about that.”, he said, putting the boy down and gently brushing him off. “Now, if you’ll excuse me………..”

He reached into his satchel and took out a humongous mace with a spiked head, which he swung at the wall of the classroom. One second later, there was a gaping hole in the wall that allowed the akuma to exit and leap down to land in front of Lila, who had just made a break for the front doors.  
“Going somewhere?”, he asked in a faux-friendly voice.

“Get away from me!”, Lila cried. “I haven’t done anything!”

“Oh, but you have.”, The Inquisitor said. “And such things! But we will be needing a more public locale for what I have in mind.”

And seizing her by the collar of her romper, he spirited Lila away over the rooftops. Meanwhile, Lila’s classmates were struggling to come to terms with what they’d just witnessed. 

“Guys, I have a distinct feeling Lila might not be what we thought she was.”, Nino remarked.

“Oh, really?”, Nathaniel asked in a tone of acidic sarcasm. “What gave it away? Her trying to sacrifice me like a prize cow? Because that’s when I got more than an inkling!”

Ms. Bustier and Mr. Damocles, having heard the commotion, poked their heads in through the hole in the wall.

“Children, what on Earth happened here?”, Mr. Damocles asked.

“An akuma happened, Mr. Damocles.”, Max replied. “One who used to be Frederick and is now out for Lila’s blood.”

“Ah. Yes, I feared that was so.”, Mr. Damocles replied.

They stared at the owl-obsessed headmaster in surprise.

“I just received a very interesting email from Frederick’s aunt and uncle explaining that Frederick had been severely bullied at his old school…………. primarily instigated by Lila.”, Mr. Damocles said. “They had sent that on beforehand but the file got corrupted and I missed that particular detail.”

The class looked rather shocked at this, aside from Marinette and Adrien who were too busy looking for a chance to sneak off and transform.

“Whilst we sort all of this out, I highly recommend that you all go home until the situation is resolved.”, Mr. Damocles went on. 

The kids didn’t need telling twice, but their attention was suddenly caught by their phones vibrating with a notification from the local news channel. Sure enough, a video of a rather confused-looking Nadja Chamack popped up.

“Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news!”, the fuschia-headed reporter said by way of greeting. “Although very bemusing news, I must admit. I’m live from the Arc de Triomphe where Hawk Moth’s latest akuma, calling himself The Inquisitor, has brought me and my cameraman for what he calls a shocking revelation. Care to give the viewers a hint of what this revelation is?”

Nadja Chamack might be a bit of an irritating woman, but she had steel in her spine and fire in her belly and nobody could intimidate her when she was in the element. As such, when somebody dressed like a 15th century witch-hunter burst into her studio and carted her and her cameraman off to a prominent Paris landmark, she had taken it all in stride and rolled with the punches, so to speak. Mama Chamack hadn’t raised any quitters or cowards, after all.

“Why certainly, Nadja.”, the akuma replied, most graciously compared to the usual ones. “The revelation pertains to my other guest, Lila Rossi. Wave to all the viewers, Lila.”

Given that she was presently pinned beneath a large wooden board, Lila could no more wave than scratch her own nose. She snarled at the akuma, angry over her present humiliation.

“Not much of a talker, are you now?”, The Inquisitor asked mockingly. “Makes a change. From what I can recall when we were schoolmates, you were hard-pressed to shut up about all the wonderful things you had done, all the amazing people you had met!”

“If I may, is there a method to this?”, Nadja interjected. “What has Ms. Rossi done to rouse your ire?”

“Nothing!”, Lila wailed, sounding the picture of a distressed damsel. “I’ve done nothing to deserve this! Let me go!”

Ignoring her, The Inquisitor turned back to the camera.

“My ire at Ms. Rossi stems from the fact that she utterly ruined my life.”, he snarled. “She may act the part of a kind, sweet, helpful and helpless girl, but it’s all a lie! Beneath that veneer lurks a spiteful, cruel, vindictive and malicious girl who thinks nothing of wrecking the lives of others in order to advance herself. Allow me to elaborate.”

He reached into his satchel and took out a scroll, which he unfurled so that it ended up dangling off the edge of the Arc, cleared his throat and began to read.

“Item one: Lila claims to have met, inspired and moonlighted as numerous celebrities such as Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, Prince Ali, the British Royal Family and many others. Do you confess?”

“I’ve never said anything like that!”, Lila replied.

“False! Lay on!”, the akuma shouted.

A large slab of rock suddenly materialised above Lila and slammed down upon the board pinning her with considerable force. 

“The more you lie, Lila, the more stones are laid upon you and the heavier they get.”, The Inquisitor said. “Until you either confess……………. or expire.”

“I haven’t lied to anyone! Let me go!”, Lila wailed, struggling under the weight.

“False! Lay on!”

Another slab, slightly thicker, materialised and slammed down upon the first one. Lila’s eyes bulged and she wheezed in pain; the more weight pressed upon her chest, the harder it would be for her to breathe. Pressing with stones, peine forte et dure, had been used to try and force Giles Corey into confessing to the crime of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Corey, aged 81, had endured this for three days before finally expiring with several pounds of rock and stone laid upon his chest. Had Lila known this, she might have been smart enough to confess. But she was not.

“Item two-”, began The Inquisitor.

“STOP!”, cried a voice.

The Inquisitor whipped around to see Ladybug and Cat Noir leaping onto the top of the landmark, weapons in hand. Ladybug raised her hands in a placatory manner.

“Frederick, you can’t do this!”, she said.

“Finally!”, Lila exclaimed. “Shouldn’t you have already defeated him by now, being such a great hero?”

Her sneering remark was exceptionally stupid given her present circumstances, as Ladybug was her only salvation and still patient and merciful enough to be willing to save the girl who’d irritated and tormented her in both identities. Ladybug scowled briefly but otherwise didn’t react.

“This is not you, Frederick.”, she continued.

“I’m not Frederick anymore!”, the akuma replied. “I am The Inquisitor, and I’ve got a few questions for you once I’m done with her!”

“Lila may have hurt you, but this is not the right way to go about things.”, Ladybug reasoned. “This is revenge and torture, not justice.”

“Revenge? Torture?”, The Inquisitor snorted. “You have no idea of what she did to me!”

He pulled back his right sleeve, exposing his arm………….. which had livid blood-red scars running across his wrist. Self-inflicted scars………….

“My God!”, Nadja breathed, one hand going to cover her mouth.

“She filled my friends’ heads with lies and falsehoods! And when I tried to stop her, tried to point out the truth, she turned them against me!”, The Inquisitor raged. “Beatings, insults, sabotaged schoolwork, threatening text messages and emails, destroyed property, public humiliation, all of it! Days and weeks and months of it, until finally I couldn’t take it anymore! I nearly died………….. BECAUSE OF HER!!!”

Cat Noir had gone white beneath his black mask and Ladybug swallowed hard as she looked at the scars, getting an odd feeling of deja vu.

“And now I have a chance to get my own back, to make sure she never does this to anyone else! Hawk Moth has given me the power to do that, who am I to refuse?”

Lila pricked up her ears at that and a wonderful thought occurred to her; of course, Hawk Moth! This must be part of his plan! She wasn’t in any real danger, obviously because of how valuable she was to him, just staged to look like she was so the heroes would be distracted. That had to be it! Hawk Moth wouldn’t let anything really bad happen to her, his most effective and loyal ally.

“As much as I agree with Lila being an awful person,”, Ladybug said. “I can’t let you do this. This isn’t right.”

“Then you leave me no choice.”, The Inquisitor replied.

Just as the heroes leapt at him, he reached into his satchel and came up with a handful of chains that he threw at them, catching them in mid-air. The chains bound them by the wrists before digging deep into the stone, immobilising them on their knees.

“I’ll deal with you two in a moment.”, The Inquisitor said calmly. “And don’t bother trying to Cataclysm your way out. Those chains are unbreakable.”

He was bluffing, of course, but knew that Cat Noir would need his power if he wanted to stand even the slightest chance of defeating him. Both heroes struggled with their chains but to no avail, whilst The Inquisitor turned back to Lila.

“Item two: Lila pretends to be ill or off on trips around the globe with her ambassador mother to bunk off weeks or even months of school at a time. Do you confess?”

“Shouldn’t you be letting me go right now?”, Lila asked.

“Do you confess?”

Lila rolled her eyes.

“OK, OK, I get it. No need to keep it up.”, she said.

“Do you confess?”

“ENOUGH!”, Lila shrieked. “You’ve gotten the heroes where they need to be, now let me go so I can help you!”

“Help me?”, The Inquisitor asked, truly baffled. “What do you mean, help me?”

“Not you! Hawk Moth!”, Lila snapped.

“Hawk Moth?”

“Didn’t he tell you? I’m on his side.”, Lila said. “He set this up so it would look like I was in danger to lure the heroes here. You’ve done that, so let me go! I can help you take their Miraculous.”

“You’re on Hawk Moth’s side?”

“Yes!”, Lila said, growing tired of this. “I am on his side! Now let me go!”

The Inquisitor suddenly jerked as a glowing purple butterfly mask appeared over his eyes, a sign that Hawk Moth was communicating with him. He listened intently, displaying no outward reaction, for about a minute until the mask abruptly vanished. The Inquisitor blinked a few times, then looked down at Lila and smiled. 

“Forgive my lack of knowledge.”, he said calmly. “Hawk Moth has just informed me that you are indeed a valuable ally of his………………. or, should I say, you were.”

Lila’s own smile vanished like a light bulb blowing; what?

“In your shortsightedness, you seem to have forgotten that you are not alone with me.”, The Inquisitor continued. “And you have quite a prominent audience.”

Lila could feel the blood draining from her face as she glanced behind the akuma to see Nadja, her cameraman, Ladybug and Cat Noir all glaring at her, white-faced and furious. Oh. She had entirely forgotten about them, and the blinking red light of the camera indicated that this was live so………………… all of Paris had just heard her confess to being a willing ally of Hawk Moth.

“Your expression of dawning comprehension is most pleasing to witness.”, The Inquisitor said. “But Hawk Moth did ask me to deliver this personally, so I will. You seem to have overestimated your importance to his operations. Yes, you were useful as an ally for your hatred of Ladybug and creative use of your powers, but you were useful only because no one knew or suspected your true allegiance. And having just clumsily blurted that out, not only in front of Paris’ most highly regarded journalist but the very heroes you despise, means your usefulness has suddenly become non-existent. So, he thanks you for your services and,”, he paused to smirk in a very unsettling manner. “wishes you luck in your future endeavours.”

Whilst this had been going on, Nadja glanced over at the heroes who were still bound by their chains, then reached up into her hair and took out a hairpin which she then surreptitiously tossed in Ladybug’s direction. It landed in front of her with a small clinking noise but the akuma didn’t notice. Ladybug picked it up and sent a stiff nod of thanks in Nadja’s direction.

“No. NO! No, you’re lying! YOU’RE LYING!”, shrieked Lila, struggling in vain against the heavy weight keeping her pinned. 

“This is probably an alien concept for you, Lila, but I’m actually telling the truth.”, The Inquisitor replied. “Hawk Moth saving you now would just be a waste of time and, quite frankly, even he’s disgusted by what you’ve done. No wriggling your way out of this one.”

He snapped his fingers and another large slab slammed down onto the two already there. Lila shrieked in a combination of fear and pain.

“OK, OK, I CONFESS, I CONFESS!!!”, she screeched. “I did lie! I lied about all those things!”

And what a torrent of confessions poured out of her! Nadja and her cameraman were still recording but Lila had forgotten about that. Faced with a former victim who had the means, motive and opportunity to kill her and no help forthcoming, she was desperate to save her own wretched life, desperate enough that she would have accepted help from even Ladybug in that moment. Every wrong she had ever committed, every lie she had ever told, every person she had ever hurt, all of it came pouring out. By the end of it, she was a pathetically sobbing wreck and even Ladybug was giving serious consideration to letting the akuma go ahead and squash her like a bug. The Inquisitor glared down at her with a look of pure disgust.

“Pathetic.”, he said. “Truly pathetic. You hurt me and all those people, told all those lies, ruined all those lives…………… for things like free lunches and popularity in school? You utterly disgust me.”

“Like I care.”, Lila sneered back. “I played your little game, confessed, so let me go.”

“Let you go?”, The Inquisitor snorted. “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

“But…………”, Lila whimpered. “You said you’d let me go if I confessed.”

He hadn’t actually, but Lila was trying anything at this point. Still, he decided to humour her by leaning down to her level.

“Guess what, Lila?”, he asked. “I lied.”

Lila’s shriek of anger became a pained little whimper as a very big slab landed on the stack. Her chest was really starting to hurt and breathing seemed to be a slight struggle.

“You know, this wasn’t just a method of interrogation.”, The Inquisitor said, as calmly as though they were chatting over a cup of tea. “It was used as a method of execution as well. They would place increasingly heavy stones on top of the victim until they confessed……….. or died. They did it to Giles Corey during the Salem Witch Trials, you know. Each time they asked him to confess, he would reply “More weight!” It took him three days to die, you know. I wonder how long you’ll take.”

A fifth slab. Lila had lost all feeling in her legs now.

“It won’t be a quick or painless death.”, the akuma went on. “As the pressure on your torso increases, your vital organs will begin to shut down. Your ribs will begin to crack and then collapse in on themselves. You’ll suffer internal bleeding, slowly and painfully. Perhaps, if you’re lucky, your brain will shut down from the lack of oxygen flow it's getting and you’ll be unconscious at the end of it. Or, maybe not.”

He raised his hand and prepared to conjure a sixth and final slab, the coup de grace……………. only for a yo-yo to wrap itself around his wrist and yank him backwards with a surprised exclamation. To his astonishment, Ladybug and Cat Noir were free and ready for battle, their chains opened and piled at their feet.

“Sorry, but not on our watch!”, Ladybug exclaimed. “No matter how much she might deserve it.”

“How did you escape my chains?”, The Inquisitor demanded.

“We’re far from a one-trick deal.”, Cat Noir said. “Now, are we going to have to do this the easy way or the hard way?”

The Inquisitor pulled himself to his feet and reached into his satchel, pulling out what looked like a pair of mace-heads connected by a long chain; a meteor hammer, a very versatile (and very deadly) weapon in the right hands.

“I guess it’s gonna be the hard way.”, Cat Noir remarked in a resigned tone.

The Inquisitor replied by swinging one of the heads at him, the hero dodging away at the last second as the spiked mace-head shattered the stonework like cheap ceramic. Nadja and her cameraman ducked for cover out of the way as Ladybug leapt up high and swung her yo-yo down at the akuma, who ensnared it with the other mace-head and used it to swing her around and send her flying into the distance.

“Milady!”, Cat Noir cried out in shock.

Forced to contend with the akuma on his own, Cat Noir used his staff and fencing skills to their fullest extent. The meteor hammer was a very tricky weapon to fight with a sword or staff, but the same was true for the wielder. If they weren’t careful, they were just as likely to injure or entangle themselves with it. All Cat Noir had to do was trick or enrage The Inquisitor enough to cause that to happen. So Cat Noir made sure to dodge around constantly whilst landing glancing but frequent blows to disorient and irritate The Inquisitor as much as possible. After taking a baton whack to the elbow for the sixth time, it seemed to be working as the akuma overcompensated with his next throw and stumbled enough that the chain of his meteor hammer wrapped itself around his ankles, causing him to trip just as Ladybug came running back to join the battle.

“Nice job, kitty!”, she said. “Now it’s my turn. Lucky Charm!”

Invoking her special power, she got…………… a katana?

“Well, that’s nice and straightforward.”, Cat Noir remarked.

“You seem to be missing the curved blade.”, Ladybug snarked back at him.

The meteor hammer vanished in a wisp of smoke and The Inquisitor got to his feet, drawing a katana with a black blade out of his satchel.

“En garde!”, he declared.

Ladybug jumped to meet him, wielding her Lucky Charm sword with great skill (those fencing lessons did come in handy) before catching him in a bladelock.

“You cannot hope to win!”, The Inquisitor said. “Give me your Miraculous and I will spare your lives!”

“Tempting, but no.”, Ladybug replied. “NOW!”

Cat Noir leapt in to attack from behind and The Inquisitor barely managed to swing around in time to block the blow, leaping away from a slashing Ladybug’s katana…………. but not in time to prevent the red-and-black-spotted blade from slicing clean through the strap of his satchel.

“Cat Noir, catch!”, Ladybug cried, hurling the satchel through the air.

“CATACLYSM!”

The satchel turned black and crumbled to dust under Cat Noir’s power, releasing the black butterfly within. Ladybug effortlessly snared it with her yo-yo before releasing it, cleansed of the negative energy. 

“MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!”, she cried, hurling her katana high into the air.

It exploded into a cloud of magical ladybirds that proceeded to seek out all the damage caused in the course of the akuma rampage, restoring it to how it was. It washed over the pressed Lila, dumping her on the floor barely conscious, and then The Inquisitor, leaving behind the form of a very bewildered Frederick in his place.

“Wha-? What happened? Where am I?”, he said, putting one hand to his head. “The last thing I remember was being in the park and………..”

He trailed off at the sight of the superheroes, who were looking at him with very sympathetic expressions.

“Wait, you’re Ladybug and Cat Noir!”, he exclaimed, getting to his feet. “What are you doing here?”

They didn’t respond immediately, waiting for him to put the pieces together.

“Oh.”, he said in a small voice. “I was akumatised, wasn’t I?”

“I’m afraid so.”, Ladybug told him sympathetically.

Frederick hung his head; great. He’d been here less than a week and already he’d gotten himself transformed into a homicidal, superpowered villain. That probably wasn’t going to endear him to the city authorities, much less his new classmates.

“I’m really sorry.”, he said, sure that handcuffs were going to be slapped onto him any moment. 

“It’s not your fault.”, Cat Noir told him. “Given what you were angry over, I don’t really blame you.”

A series of loud gasps behind him made Frederick turn to see Lila Rossi getting to her feet, massaging her chest and taking in huge lungfuls of air. Oh no.

“You!”, she shrieked, advancing on him. “You think you’re so clever, getting akumatised and forcing me to say all those things!”

Frederick was very confused, as he did not remember what he’d done as an akuma, but Ladybug and Cat Noir stepped between him and Lila, both looking very angry.

“Why are you angry at me?”, Lila protested. “I’m the victim here!”

“I always suspected you were working with Hawk Moth, but I could never prove it.”, Ladybug snarled. “Not until now.”

Lila tossed her hair and smirked, completely unconcerned.

“You’ve got no proof.”, she said.

“Actually, Ms. Rossi, perhaps you’d care to comment on your previous confessions?”

Nadja Chamack had emerged from hiding with her cameraman and had thrust her microphone in Lila’s direction, her eyes glittering dangerously. Lila went pale as she suddenly remembered the camera.

“I didn’t mean any of that!”, she hastily claimed, hitching on a kind of sickly smile. “I was just telling him what he wanted to hear so he’d let me go! He’s a bully who got himself akumatised just to hurt me and ruin my reputation by spreading lies about me!”

She burst into crocodile tears and threw herself at Nadja for comfort, but the reporter backed off.

“Don’t you touch me, you repellent little parasite!”, she hissed.

Except Lila hadn’t actually been aiming for her. Pretending to trip, she crashed heavily into the cameraman so that the camera fell from his grip and broke on the ground, with her “accidentally” stepping on it for good measure. Nadja let out a squawk of indignation at the camera’s destruction.

“And there goes your proof!”, Lila gloated, smirking in an utterly punchable way.

That smirk faded as Nadja turned on her with an almost predatory grin.

“Except that feed was live the whole time.”, she said. “And feeding right back to the studio, where all footage is automatically backed up onto a secure server.”

Lila again felt the blood drain from her face at that. Her eyes darted towards the nearby exit stairwell and she half-turned to make a dash for it, but she hadn’t gone more than two paces before a leather-gloved hand (with clawed points that dug painfully into her flesh) grabbed her shoulder and held her in a grip of iron.

“Regardless of whether or not we have proof you weren’t lying then, I think we’ve got more than enough for the police to be extremely interested in talking to you.”, Cat Noir snarled.

“And not just about your collusion with Hawk Moth.”, Ladybug couldn’t help but snipe.

“Ha! Do your worst!”, Lila sneered. “I’ve got diplomatic immunity through my mother so I’m untouchable!”

Nobody had the energy to shatter the wretched girl’s final delusion, as fun as it might have been, so it was a silent party that descended the stairs of the Arc de Triomphe to ground level where a large police cordon had been set up. Lila was immediately taken into custody by a quartet of grim-faced and heavily armed officers whilst Nadja was whisked off in a news van to run the scoop back at HQ and the heroes were forced to leave before they de-transformed. This left Frederick alone with the police lieutenant, a man called Roger, who gently assured him that he would not be facing any charges since he was not in his right mind and that, by the sound of it, he’d had a pretty legitimate grievance.

“Do you have any family we can contact?”, Roger asked him.

But he didn’t have to reply because another officer came up at that moment with Hugo and his aunt and uncle in tow, Hugo promptly throwing himself on his cousin in a tight hug expressing how worried he’d been.

“I’m fine, Hugo, really.”, Frederick protested, though he wasn’t so sure. “The heroes fixed everything, like you said they do.”

“Just checking.”, Hugo replied, looking worried. “I saw you on that live feed and you were really scary.”

Frederick was taken home for a filling meal and a long rest, with his family trying hard to keep him away from the news about his akumatisation as they didn’t want the kind and gentle boy to know how bloodthirsty and cruel he’d been under Hawk Moth’s influence. Mr. Damocles sent a letter offering to delay his starting school for the rest of the week to recover from his ordeal if he wished and Frederick decided to accept, since it would give time for the fuss to die down. Then again, that might have been wishful thinking as Lila’s confession had provoked the proverbial firestorm. The Italian embassy was besieged by angry protestors demanding Lila’s swift punishment, exile, deportation and/or execution, not necessarily in that order. Mrs. Caterina Rossi, Lila’s mother and a secretary rather than a high-ranking official as it turned out, made a full public apology on behalf of her (now disowned) daughter and assurances that she would be harshly punished. A leak from the embassy (which was quite eager to be shot of the wretched girl) revealed that she had been shipped out to an extremely strict behavioural institution in an undisclosed location. As though to further drive the nail in, many of her former victims or their friends and relatives had come forward to disclose what she had put them through; Frederick wasn’t the only one who’d resorted to slit wrists, and sadly their case had not ended happily. Combined with the slander, truancy, terrorism, bullying, theft and other varied crimes, it was clear that Lila Rossi would not be seeing the light of day again for a very, very long time. 

As for Frederick, he went back to school the week after his akumatisation and found himself warmly welcomed by everyone. Marinette, the class representative and Lila’s latest target as it turned out, had been particularly kind and welcoming, taking the others firmly in hand and letting them know that Frederick was not to be bombarded with questions about his ordeal. He integrated into the class at his own pace, being open to socialising but keeping to himself mostly due to his past experiences making him slow to trust new people. Slowly he began to open up to them and proved himself very helpful with his vast knowledge of many topics. After about two months, he noticed that Jean Duparc from Ms. Mendeleiev’s class was giving him very flirty eyes and decided to sit with him at lunch to see some of his infamous magic tricks. Within three months Frederick, with new true friends and a supportive, sweet and quirky boyfriend, had forgotten he’d ever met Lila Rossi.

**Author's Note:**

> So Frederick gets back at Lila for ruining his life and almost driving him to suicide by forcing her to confess her sins under threat of being pressed to death with heavy stones. I've reasoned before that Lila had to have done her lying and discrediting act to people in the past, but never before have I done a story where they get revenge directly.
> 
> The bit about the Salem Witch Trials is true. Nineteen of the twenty victims were hanged but the twentieth, a farmer called Giles Corey, was crushed to death with heavy stones. He refused to confess or deny the charges and died legally innocent so they couldn't confiscate his property. He really was 81 when he died and endured being pressed for three days before he expired. Not bad.
> 
> I was partly inspired by ChaoticNeutral's marvellous "BURN THE WITCH" story, with my own spin on it. Inquisitors were officials of the Catholic Church who ferreted out heretics and liars and, occasionally, witches. It seemed fitting.
> 
> Nadja Chamack might be the next character to engineer Lila's downfall. How, I wonder?


End file.
